Regional parties learnt dynastic politics from Indira Gandhi

On the same day in 1975 at the stroke of midnight, the president of India proclaimed Emergency in the country at the advice of Indira Gandhi. After 4 decades of those two watershed years of Independent India, nearly half of the population does not have any memories of those years. Every anniversary of emergency came and went but on this anniversary history is being debated vigorously because we have a Prime Minister who epitomises Indira Gandhi.

The emergency was a result of her insecurity. I am sure you are surprised, but the answer is yes. Indira Gandhi had a very secluded childhood. Her childhood was full of mental struggle where her mother, father and grandpa were never at home during the independence movement. Her mother died when she was young, her father was very busy and she had a very bad marriage. She was always insecure. She was alone with very little friends. Out of mental insecurity came the dogmatic attitude where she turned to be autocratic and a fighter. She believed no one except her family. She always saw people in aristocratic style, people who were loyal were rewarded and who opposed were shown the door. It was like an emperor and his court.

When the Allahabad high court judgement came, she initially wanted to step down but her insecurity and Siddharth Shankar Ray’s advice prevailed upon her initial reaction. The Supreme Court gave her a partial reprieve but Jayprakash Narayan galvanised crowds for a protest in Delhi and he called upon the Army to take over. She used that excuse to impose emergency. For the first year there was little opposition, but when Sanjay took over the PMO through RK Dhawan the situation changed. Nearly 10 lakh people were forcefully sterilised, Delhi’s slums were destroyed in the name of beautification and were given accommodation next to the filthy Yamuna. Nearly 1 lakh people were arrested, civil rights were curtailed, press was censored and the courts betrayed the people. Finally, the only decision Indira Gandhi took without telling Sanjay was to call for elections. The worst was over and Indiraji was ousted from power.

The after affects of emergency are a blot on Indian democracy. Indira’s authoritarian rule had created strong regional sentiments and leaders in the states. Telugu Desam in Andhra, DMK, AIDMK in Tamil Nadu, JDU in bihar, SP, BSP in UP, BJD in Odissa, etc. Those regional parties have become family parties. After the father gets old, son becomes the CM. The family occupies all important posts in the government. There is no scope for dissent. The regional parties have become like a public limited company. Insecurity is the main reason. Every regional leader has learnt this from Indira Gandhi and is following it to the maximum.This is not democracy, a real democracy is where individuals don’t matter and institutions matter. The only party which was different from other parties was BJP, but now after MODI’s rise to the chair, there is no scope for dissent. The BJP is slowly turning into another Congress where the Gandhis are the umpire, captain and coach. They decide everything. Anybody who opposes has no room. BJP under Modi is also becoming like that. In AAP also Kejriwal is everything and those who oppose like Yogendra are shown the door. This is not the democracy that our freedom fighters fought for. When there is no scope for dissent in a party, corruption overflows, people of the same family prosper and we will continue to under perform as a nation. We need to oppose such type of parties and people. Dynasty is over, we live in the 21st century. We need to change the system and we might not again face Emergency in our life time, but the snippets of those era like curtailing of freedom of expression and sending people to jail for anti posts on social media etc should be highly resisted and fought. We need to fight for our rights.

Author's note: I immensely admire Indira Gandhi for her leadership during the war over Pakistan in 1971, but I oppose her for curbing my previous generations’s civil rights and for the after affects of emergency which I face today

By Sriram Datla

Penumantra Village, West Godavari District

PS: The opinion expressed in this article are personal and doesn't reflect the views of the organization.